Power, Confirmation & Lies
High court confirmation battle comes to a head, and the midterms loom, kind of
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The Uncertainty Principle
After what seems like a nonstop election cycle since Nov. 9, 2016, with several special elections since then and a president that never seems to tire of political events, it’s safe to say even politics junkies are looking forward to Nov. 6, the day of the congressional midterms. Except … it might not even be over then, according to Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales, who says the number of close House races and likely runoffs might preclude us from knowing who will be in control of Congress for maybe weeks to come. Thanks, Nathan.
Minnesota? Nice
Just because we might not know all the results on election night doesn’t mean we’re not covering the heck out of said races. Case in point is Roll Call’s own Simone Pathé and Tom Williams, who are in Minnesota reporting on the state that has become the center of the political universe with competitive House races, two Senate races, a governor’s race, a partridge in a pear tree …
He Might Say, She Might Say
It’s been somewhat of a challenge to figure out exactly what might happen on Monday, when we kinda, sorta might be expected to see some kind of public Senate Judiciary hearing that will feature testimony by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford. After days of back and forth, and with Senate Republicans eagerly waiting to push the button on a confirmation vote, all eyes, ears and Twitter accounts are trained to what comes next in the high court battle royale.
This Week’s Podcast
Speaking of Kavanaugh and the high court, in the latest Political Theater Podcast, CQ Roll Call’s Todd Ruger and Kate Ackley and I discussed where we go from here, after what will go down as one of the nastiest confirmation fights of all time? Is this as good as we can expect? Or is there some way to back away from the precipice? Have a listen: